Lewis's Life

In Louisville it just rained. That's all.

The basement at Joetta's studio is kinda wet, but that happens every time it gets humid. I have found some of the causes; I just need more time. Please send me all your spare time. Thanks.

We needed the rain here and MSD has been doing a great job of keeping it all under control and en route to the Ohio river. So don't worry.

On a less boring note, we heard back from the vet and the thing on Mocha's tongue is a melanoma and they need to operate more and want to do some radiation therapy. We would have to go to Cinnci for vetrinary radiation so my Dad might be seeing a lot of us. We'll make some decisions after the surgery.

We took a trip to eastern Kentucky last weekend. Marz has become quite enamored of a young lady he met at Nerd Camp this summer. He bugged the heck out of us until we agreed to go for a visit.

Samantha's family lives right by a state park, so it is very scenic. Joetta and I went for a walk in another nearby park and saw some wild turkeys. Some of you (Is anyone reading this other than Aviva?)may recognize Van Lear as Loretta Lynn's home town. Joetta and I went up to Butcher Hollow and took a little tour of the Homeplace. It is a sort of local industry. It is certainly a pretty spot but it is also certainly a darn small house and not near anything. The house is full of old family pictures and signed pictures from celebrity visitors. A lot of the family pictures look just like Joetta's family pictures, which could be a cultural/class thing or it could just be a black and white and blurry thing.

In a blatant attempt to increase readership here is a picture of Marz and Sam. No teasing Marz about this, Sam is a nice girl and we think they're cute.

Long story short. Last week the dog (Mocha) had bad fleas and had to take some medicine. Over the weekend I discovered weird growth on her tongue. Monday I call the vet, they say bring her in NOW. Then they say we're gonna keep her overnight until the pre-op tests clear and cut that thing off tomorrow. We got her back Tuesday night and are awaiting the biopsy results. I just have to give her four pills twice a day and make sure she doesn't lick or chew on the wound.

Then when I finish the post-operative antibiotics I am supposed to finish the flea antibiotics. Suffice to say the Mocha no longer even makes a token protest when I come at her with a handful of pills.

I guess that's why she loves the Mommy best.

Business is frustrating today. It seems like there is always some extra little complication in everything I do. I am missing three inches of steel in a weird size, things keep being metric, and battery in the clock died again.

Marz started school on Tuesday (yes, the 16th of August) so we won't be visiting any one this month. He has worked at the shop with me over the summer and will be coming by after school a couple of days a week. It is awfully handy to have an extra set of hands around.

Today he helped me with a little set of window bars. He is putting the finishing touches on in the picture. I get a lot of little repairs and walk in traffic from being in an established shop. those are good jobs for Marz to learn on.

I am going to post some pictures of the shop on flickr for those of you who haven't seen it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fciron

OK, I am spilling my guts online so I am a real blogger now. I am paying the price for a weekend of art car glory.

I have spent the whole day entering my bank statements into Quicken so I can use them for my taxes. I got an extension so they're due on Monday. I promised them to my accountant yesterday.

Anyway, I am doing my last minute typing away and the phone rings. It's my Dad. He starts apologizing right away for screwing up.

Screwing up what?

He is doing HIS taxes and he found one of my 1099s. He's all worried that he messed up my taxes because I didn't have this interest report for my schedule B.

New Holiday -- Meyer tax season 15 August.

I sent my First Mate out to shang-h, I mean recruit, a new crew and he came back with this scurvy looking wench. She signed the articles and we terrorized shipping on Bardstown Rd.

PS -- She's the only one with a real sword so don't all start jumping to conclusions.

Hey, Every One,

I have just about recovered from our fun weekend. We played host to about nine people and 6 art vehicles for the event. There was some trouble in the housing department so we threw Joetta's studio into the gap.

I guess if there were guest staying there it must be finished.

I put a new mast on the truck. (I ran the old one into a low branch after the Pride parade.) It is still sloop rigged but I hope to be square rigged for our next voyage. I am also working on some lights to accentuate the rigging and have plans for a working rudder.

There is a new set of photos on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fciron/sets/711322/

Gonna try to post weekly so start commenting and we can use this for arguments instead of e-mail.

Glenn, I got twenty-five mpg in the truck when I drove it to Houston TX. The sticker on the window said 23 mpg on the highway back in 1993. I believe that the scales on the hood encourage laminar flow and improve the streamlining.